Should we be offended by the cartoon of Prophet Muhammad on the new Charlie Hebdo cover?

Last week’s attacks on French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo’s offices in Paris have left Britain in shock about their sheer brutality and in deep solidarity with the victims. In the immediate aftermath, Muslims all over Europe, and especially in Britain, issued messages of condemnation and commiseration.

The Sun dedicated an entire page to the last week’s events, letting us hear the voices of British Muslims as they comment on the horrific events. In a strong statement, Sara Khan condemns the attack, saying “There is nothing that can be used or argued to justify what happened. (…) We need to continue to challenge such horrendous attacks of brutality and the ideas that justify them. But like many, I fear that ordinary, law-abiding Muslims will unfairly and unjustly pay the price.”

As Charlie Hebdo’s new issue hit newsstands this week in unprecedented levels, the renewed depiction of Prophet Mohammed on the cover has sparked considerable controversy and heated debate.
In response to the cover, on Wednesday’s BBC Radio 4 Today show, Sara Khan spoke about questions of solidarity, traditions of satire and depictions of the Prophet in Islam and the messages behind the cover. (at 1:30)

In last night’s Amanpour on CNN, Christiane Amanpour portrayed the broad spectrum of Muslim reactions to the Charlie Hebdo cover. Sara Khan joined her in the studio to discuss the cover, necessary debates within Islamic communities, and freedom of expression.

In a similar manner, this Guardian article describes the atmosphere following the publishing of this week’s Charlie Hebdo edition. It quotes Sara Khan as saying, “the image on the front cover is not an image of anger on behalf of Charlie Hebdo. I don’t see it as an image of provocation either.”